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enter the villains
Apr. 5th, 2025 11:14 pmAt least the five villains entered.
Not the ones who refuse to villainize. This is the other isekai tale, where I thought there were five points where the villain acted.
There are four subvillains, and the important thing was nailing down what they looked like.
Not that the connecting parts are so clear.
Not the ones who refuse to villainize. This is the other isekai tale, where I thought there were five points where the villain acted.
There are four subvillains, and the important thing was nailing down what they looked like.
Not that the connecting parts are so clear.
plotting the forest
Apr. 2nd, 2025 11:53 pmThere needed to be three. Three situations where the heroine realized she needed to frame the question correctly to solve the problem, because she could only solve it from an unexpected angle.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Yes, there are always questions about "what goes here?" while writing, but this time, after I put a question in a crucial moment, the muse starts to babble about questions.
At the turning points, the heroine's victories will turn on her having correctly framed the questions. Victory turns on that.
Not, of course, that I have three questions (and answers) for the three crucial points. I may have to generate one. sigh
At the turning points, the heroine's victories will turn on her having correctly framed the questions. Victory turns on that.
Not, of course, that I have three questions (and answers) for the three crucial points. I may have to generate one. sigh
something happens here
Mar. 17th, 2025 10:52 pmJuggling two outlines -- trying to keep them traveling in separate lines -- and the one that seemed to have more of a story has proven -- sketchy. The heroine has to solve problems, but that means I have to define the problems.
Meanwhile the other one is revealing that there are animal themes among the magic involved. Go figure.
Meanwhile the other one is revealing that there are animal themes among the magic involved. Go figure.
juggling two stories
Mar. 7th, 2025 11:58 pmOh you plot bunnies!
Two very different stories about a character who finds herself in another world. The means by which they are moved differ, the situations they find themselves in differ, their powersets differ, and the reasons they have powers differ. Their enemies differ, and so does the conflict.
This probably means they should have different reactions to arrival, perhaps all the more in that they do not glide over it as a machine that the readers will simply accept as not relevant to the plot. (It is relevant in both cases, though -- the reasons differ.)
Both are going to have metaphysical questions, though. No matter how different I make them.
(And I don't even know if either one is a full story yet.)
Two very different stories about a character who finds herself in another world. The means by which they are moved differ, the situations they find themselves in differ, their powersets differ, and the reasons they have powers differ. Their enemies differ, and so does the conflict.
This probably means they should have different reactions to arrival, perhaps all the more in that they do not glide over it as a machine that the readers will simply accept as not relevant to the plot. (It is relevant in both cases, though -- the reasons differ.)
Both are going to have metaphysical questions, though. No matter how different I make them.
(And I don't even know if either one is a full story yet.)
muddle in the middle
Feb. 26th, 2025 07:05 pmHad a story idea, months ago. It dumped a character into the middle of a big problem, and I had no idea how the problem existed or what she could do to solve it.
Had another idea, wherein she figured out that there are two sets of spell-slingers, one of which is evil, one of which is as much a victim of the first as anyone else -- perhaps more. And resolved the matter.
All right! Plunge into the outline! Discover that the middle is still entirely vague!
Oh, well, I have a few inklings.
Had another idea, wherein she figured out that there are two sets of spell-slingers, one of which is evil, one of which is as much a victim of the first as anyone else -- perhaps more. And resolved the matter.
All right! Plunge into the outline! Discover that the middle is still entirely vague!
Oh, well, I have a few inklings.
ah, the scene
Oct. 6th, 2024 11:39 pmI write in the outline that the hero fights an evil knight here, rescuing a prisoner.
I note that ravens are involved.
But I need to elaborate it into an actual scene.
Ah, the discovery you make about the adequacy of outlines.
I note that ravens are involved.
But I need to elaborate it into an actual scene.
Ah, the discovery you make about the adequacy of outlines.
you begin with what you begin with
Oct. 26th, 2023 11:31 pmWas reading an article talking about how to build your magical system. It said you could start once you had the main structural points of your plot.
My eyes rolled so hard I had to retrieve them from under the desk.
Yes, in, say, "The Witch Child and the Scarlet Fleet" I designed the magic system to fit the story. But in "Winter's Curse" I worked backwards from the idea of the curse to design a story to reveal it.
My eyes rolled so hard I had to retrieve them from under the desk.
Yes, in, say, "The Witch Child and the Scarlet Fleet" I designed the magic system to fit the story. But in "Winter's Curse" I worked backwards from the idea of the curse to design a story to reveal it.
outlining out of order
May. 1st, 2023 11:54 pmOne advantage of a plot structure -- Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Lester Dent's, what have you -- is that it gives you a place to put story ideas in order when the story is incomplete.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
abduction and inspiration
Mar. 23rd, 2023 11:15 pmAbduction is useful when starting out with a story.
By which I do not mean stealing a story idea from something (even something copyrighted) and then running off with it slung over your shoulders, though abduction is good for that, but logical abduction, where you start with things and try to fit them together.
( Read more... )
By which I do not mean stealing a story idea from something (even something copyrighted) and then running off with it slung over your shoulders, though abduction is good for that, but logical abduction, where you start with things and try to fit them together.
( Read more... )
in media muse
Feb. 1st, 2023 11:36 pmAlong comes inspiration: a vivid and moving scene. In the middle of the plot -- in media res.
I ponder how on earth the characters in it met.
Needless to say there's no inspiration there. (I can't even start the story in media res because the question of how they met will come up even if I did so.)
sigh
I ponder how on earth the characters in it met.
Needless to say there's no inspiration there. (I can't even start the story in media res because the question of how they met will come up even if I did so.)
sigh
juggling ideas again
Nov. 27th, 2022 10:27 pmThe problem with cutting out nifty ideas that don't work in the story as it comes together, and then putting them aside for the sequel, is that then you end up with an armful of slippery little ideas and have start getting them to come together.
Is it really more difficult than the first story was? I'm not sure, but I'll blame the sequel status for it. 0:)
Is it really more difficult than the first story was? I'm not sure, but I'll blame the sequel status for it. 0:)
